Strawberry Streusel Muffins

Crunchy-sweet cinnamon streusel tops these oversized strawberry muffins. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy one warm out of the oven for the perfect early-morning summer breakfast – or freeze some for a great grab-and-go snack later on.

Strawberry Streusel Muffins

I knew it, but I didn’t know it. What I do know is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The open house, the showings, the finding and hopefully buying of the perfect new place and all that goes along with that whole sordid process. I’m … kind of scared.

Big picture, big picture. It will all be worth it.

Of course, for the first time in a couple of years, my garden is absolutely flourishing. I water the up-and-coming jungle with a bit of a scowl, knowing that if things go as planned, someone else will be enjoying my zucchini by the bushel, my fresh-picked tomatoes warmed by the sun, my wheelbarrows full of sugar pumpkins.

Big picture, big picture. Better garden at a better house.

I’ve been making and freezing grab-and-go goods for a few weeks now in preparation for the frenzied days ahead, and muffins are huge on the list of perfect freezer fare. So naturally, when I returned from my someone else’s garden yesterday with a huge bowl full of just-picked strawberries, muffins needed to happen.

Of course, only six out of the 12 made it into the freezer, but I guess that’s six more than we started with.

I love strawberries in muffins. They taste sort of like you smeared jam on each half, without having to actually smear jam. I’m all about the lazy.

These strawberry streusel muffins are almost too big for their britches. I probably should have cut the recipe or scooped the batter into more muffin cups, but you know what? I kind of like them like this. They puff up to near-inappropriate proportions – in fact, I’m pretty sure they’re more top than muffin.

A bit of cinnamon in both the batter and the crunchy-sweet streusel topping complement the sweet-tart bites of strawberry perfectly. And, of course, the muffin itself: moist, tender, oversized, happy. (Sign #25 of exhaustion: I start describing foods in emotions. I apologize in advance for the months ahead).

Strawberry Streusel Muffins

Prep:20 minutes

Cook:20 minutes

Total:40 minutes

Crunchy-sweet cinnamon streusel tops these oversized strawberry muffins. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy one warm out of the oven for the perfect early-morning summer breakfast – or freeze some for a great grab-and-go snack later on.

Ingredients:

For the streusel topping:

½ cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk*

1 egg

½ cup canola or vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and diced (1/2-inch dice or so)

Directions:

Prepare the topping. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and pinch salt. Using a pastry blender, a couple of butter knives, or your clean hands, cut the butter into the mixture until the topping is the texture of coarse crumbs (butter should be the size of small peas).

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Batter will be thick.

Fold in the strawberries.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Sprinkle topping over the top – it works out to about 1 1/2 tablespoons per muffin.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the topping turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool for about five minutes, then remove muffins from the tins and place on a wire rack until cool enough to eat.

*To make a buttermilk substitute, mix a scant cup of regular milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar. Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Good luck with selling the house! When my parents sold theirs, my mom was more broken up about losing the garden than the whole “this is the home where we raised our children & now we’re moving” thing. But yes, your next garden will be even better! Acres and acres of strawberries as far as the eye can see!

Thanks so much – for both the good luck wishes and the encouraging words. We’ve looked at a few houses with miniscule yards, but I’ve loved them otherwise and tried to talk myself into them, and my husband is all, no. You would not be happy without a great garden. 🙂

Hi April, thanks! You know, I often do use whole-wheat flour, or at least half and half. And as I was assembling this batch of muffins I considered it. But in this case though I wanted a cupcakier muffin. Something big and kind of decadent. I’m certain it would be fabulous if you subbed some of the all purpose flour with whole wheat. If you (or anyone else) gives it a go, please let me know what you think!

The top is the hands down best part of the muffin! Especially when it’s topped with streusel or coarse chunks of sugar :)…strawberries are so delicious this time of year! I’m dying to make these but am waiting until the heat wave in the northeast subsides a bit so that I can turn on my oven 🙂
Good luck with the house sale and house/garden hunt!

I just made these and they are delicious. I needed mini-muffins so reduced the baking time by 6 minutes. Since I didn’t have fresh strawberries I used frozen (Sorry! I know the fresh would make them even better, but mine turned out fine!). The recipe actually made 4 dozen mini-muffins! Yummm!

OMG these muffins are absolutely fantastic. I love baking and make muffins all the time for my kids lunch/snack boxes. These were by far the best flavour and texture. My husband (the cake fiend and critic)actually called me from work to tell me that they were the best I have ever made.

I have NEVER bothered to post a comment on any recipe until now. This recipe is an absolute winner. Next time I am going to see if they taste just as good with other berries.

3 cups of flour???? I just made these and the dough itself is like crumble! “Batter will be thick”!!! More like so thick it’s like crumble it’s so dry. Something must be wrong! I second guessed myself thinking I measured too many cups of flour the first time & made the batter again with the same result. Disappointing!!!

Hi Amy, hmmm, not sure what happened there. It’s been awhile since I made these but I will try it again just to make sure the recipe is still correct. I remember the batter being very thick like cake batter – definitely not crumbly!

I’d love to know how they come out for you using 3 cups of flour. I can’t see myself making the same mistake twice. I just took them out of the oven and they are very dry, not very sweet at all with a hard cornbread like texture. I’m attempting to salvage this other batter I made with more sugar & wet ingredients. Fingers crossed!

I would really be wondering if I had a typo in the recipe, if it wasn’t for several other people commenting that they made them and they turned out well. So strange. 🙁 I am sorry for the trouble; I hate the idea that one of my recipes did not work out for someone. It’s tough to troubleshoot when I’m not right there in your kitchen with you. 3 cups of flour to 1 cup of buttermilk (plus one half cup of oil) definitely isn’t a crazy ratio for muffins. I will try the recipe again soon though, just to be sure.

I love loved loved these muffins I make them at lunch least once a week now everyone in the family (and the in laws) love it when I make these I have even made apricot ones with this recipe instead of the strawberry too next flavour is apple I will try with a few more fruit flavours aswell I think. Best muffin recipe ever!!! Thank you ao much!!

Hi karen yes I use fresh ones as my local fruit n veg shop sell big bags so I usually grab a few for jam and baking. usually if ive made jam I swirl a bit of the jam on top before I put on the crumb topping. So yummy but I would think even dried apricots would still be yummy but id soften them in hot water for a bit before using so they break up a bit when mixing to get more flavour around 🙂 so delish.

I found there to be something wrong with the recipe as well. The consistency was more like cookie dough than cake batter. I had even added a really ripe banana but it still seemed pretty dry. I know not to over mix but you still have to moisten the excess dry ingredients. I ended up adding another 1/2 cup buttermilk to try and save the recipe and am now waiting to see how it turned out. Also I filled up the muffin cups to the top and I still have about 6 muffins worth of batter.?

BEST muffins ever!!! I did add about 1/8 c more buttermilk because batter was a bit like dough, turned out PERFECT! Also, because they are so huge, they took 40 minutes, not 20. Could easily have made 16 regular size muffins, but I personally liked the larger size. Sent some to work with hubby. Can’t wait for his review!!
Thanks for an awesome recipe!!!

I made these this morning and they were perfect. I popped them in at 425 for 5 min and the reduced the heat to 375 for about 22 min (27 min in total) and they baked up beautifully. Thanks for this recipe! Will definitely make them again.

It’s strawberry season and I’ve made a few different strawberry muffin recipes this week! This one is hands down the easiest to make and most flavorful muffin recipe. I’ve made it twice this week. First batch as posted and the second with a couple modifications that take it out of this world. I like that it’s a thicker batter that seems to just hold up nicer. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!

It’s strawberry season and I’ve made a few different strawberry muffin recipes this week! This one is hands down the easiest to make and most flavorful muffin recipe. I’ve made it twice this week. First batch as posted and the second with a couple modifications that take it out of this world. I like that it’s a thicker batter that seems to just hold up nicer. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!